Hummingbird Pillow

The hummingbirds have been visiting me while I'm out in the garden. They are quite curious little fellows, hovering just above the spray of water. They enjoy the blooming sage bush and jasmine vines.

They reminded me of this pillow I made for my Mom a couple Christmases ago. She adores hummingbirds.

I started with a paper-pieced block that I designed especially for this pillow. Then I added applique stems cut from bias strips so they would curve easily, borders, and finally some 3D Fuschia flowers and leaves.

It was difficult to make the stems thin so I added the rest of the vines using repetitive free-motion quilting or "thread painting". Feathers were added to the hummingbird wings during quilting, and details were added to the flowers using hand embroidery and beads.

I used the same design for the back as in my Crane Star Pillow pattern. My Mom loves her hummingbird pillow, and I was happy to see it on her couch last week when I visited.

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Organizing

After a long break from blogging & sewing, I decided to organize my studio. Small changes inspire me. I think more clearly and feel more calm when things around me are neat and tidy.

The first thing I did was move my desk back against the wall to open up the space. I usually rotate it to face the window when I'm quilting a larger project. I also thought it was time to put some new stickers on my magic machine!

These thick paper stickers were from different scrapbook kits possibly by Simple Stories or Carta Bella. I love these stickers and now my machine is so pretty! It's calling to me from my computer... SEW! SEW! SEW!

As you enter the studio, there's a nook to left that houses my computer station, couch/guest bed, & IKEA Alex drawer unit that I've been patiently waiting for over two years and finally found on Craigslist last week for half price!

It is the new home to all my work in progress (W.I.P.). I liked the look of the chalkboard labels in a photo of it that I saw. However, there are too many things in each drawer so on the labels I wrote:

W.I.P.
Things
I
need
to
finish.

I'm a daydreamer at heart and get sidetracked easily. I have lists and labels all over the place. It helps me remember where I put things and keeps me focused. I'm doing pretty good so far ;o)

I removed the doors to this closet when we moved here six years ago. It's where I store most of my craft supplies, books, small pieces of batting & large pieces of fabric. At the opposite end of the closet, I recently added a shelving unit and a shelf above to hold my finished project bins. Last week, they were stacked on top of each other and jammed in the corner which made them very difficult to access.

It also houses large binders for my Ideas, Patterns & Stickers. The 'Ideas' binder is full of designs that I need to make into pattern booklets! I re-use empty tissue boxes by folding down the sides and using them as small baskets to hide clutter.

I keep all of my ribbons on the back of my door. I have tried many ways of storing ribbon and this is definitely the best. I found myself with overflowing tangled drawers of ribbons because I would dig through and unravel lengths to see how they would look on my project. Now I tie similar coloured ribbons to hinged metal book rings and hang them on wire door hooks. I attach wider ribbon & short pieces using binder clips before attaching them to the rings. Besides being eye candy, it's just so easy to just grab a few to audition for my teacup pouches!

I cut my fabric on the floor which is the permanent home of a 33 x 56" thick translucent cutting mat (Studio Collection by H.A. KIDD). I cut a hole right through my large Olfa mat! Thankfully I'm still able to work on my knees and I usually work on small projects so the mat is used mostly for squaring up & cutting binding. I do have smaller cutting mats that I use on my sewing table.

I re-organized my fat quarter shelves. I finally took my fabric out of bags after our moth problem a year ago. I had collected three extra bins and several piles of new fabric that I hoped would fit. Sadly these short IKEA Benno DVD shelves are discontinued. They are perfect craft shelves at only 6" deep. The finished fabric shelving unit is 42" tall x 7' wide. I used white wood trim to cover the gaps between the shelves, covered the top with 8" white shelving, and attached a cute scalloped edge cut from white cardstock. I may use wider shelving on the top and attach a rod behind the scallops for hanging a curtain to protect my fabric from fading in the sun.

I did manage to squeeze it all in except for my solids! I made room in two of the bench baskets and built lift-out cardboard inserts for easy access to both layers. The other baskets hold scraps & Christmas fabric.

I took a new self-portrait and I really like how it turned out. My space looks amazing and I'm surrounded by things I've made. What you can't see is that I'm surrounded by what looks like the aftermath of a hurricane caused by throwing all the messes out of the camera frame including a large fan lying on its side!

Of course my studio isn't neat all the time. Whose craftroom is?! When I really become involved in a project, fabric starts flying! (And my family starves.)

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Rainbow Star Quilt

My Rainbow Star quilt started off as one block like all quilts do. It was the first time making a wonky star block and I utterly failed... my star looked like a blue crab with pointy pincers!

After making the first block, I decided that the next one should have a four-patch in the centre of the star instead of one big square. The patchy centres looked more balanced to me and gave me a chance to use even more colourful scraps! And with Janet's help, my next ones didn't look like crabs :o)

I free-motion quilted LOTS of pebbles around the stars, and flowery feathers in the border. I think this was the first quilt that I didn't mark out the quilting, I just went for it! The rainbow outer border was very ripply at this point and with a bit of help from the internet I discovered piano key quilting.

I had made a rainbow striped backing but then decided to add a wide border to the front. I was upset that my backing was too small but everything happens for a reason... the rainbow stripes turned into a giant star with a linen background... even better than what I had planned!

Adding buttons to the centres of the stars was the finishing touch. I just LOVE buttons!

I hung the quilt in my window to keep the cats off the quilt, when suddenly the sunshine came out and the quilt started to glow like fireworks!

The Rainbow Star quilt looks lovely with my favourite teacup! Mmmm... tea! It's time for my afternoon chai!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Inspiration

I've been uninspired for so long. I've still been quilting a bit but was frustrated with keeping my three shops, flickr, facebook & my blog up to date. Sometimes it gets in the way of enjoying what you make. I told myself when I began blogging that I would never apologize for my sporadic posting or lengthy absences from the digital craft world, and I'm keeping that promise. Sometimes life takes over and sometimes it throws you new interests. That's Life :o)

I have been gardening lately. I was very involved with it this Spring. My husband built two 4x8 foot garden boxes for Mother's Day (well... I showed him how to build the first one)! I filled it using the Lasagna Gardening method to save money on buying dirt, and planted it using another method called Square Foot Gardening. As soon as it started to grow, I was absolutely inspired! Because the garden is divided up into one foot squares and different things are planted in each square, my garden looked like a quilt!

It has been very wet and rainy... as per usual in Coastal BC! And cold wet weather means mushrooms! Everywhere! In my garden boxes! I thought I took some pictures but I guess I was too busy looking up poisonous mushrooms. I'm pretty sure we're safe. The only poisonous mushrooms I have are the painted metal ones under the persimmon tree. Mushrooms are so inspiring!

Inspiring enough to paint or make a quilt of these magical garden inhabitants! I'm quite excited about my quilt design. I haven't seen a scalloped edge turned into mushroom tops yet! I just have to figure out how to align the stems if the scallops are different sizes...

I also discovered Katie Daisy when I was searching the internet for mushrooms. I love all her whimsical artwork, her lettering, the quotes she uses, and her passion for nature. Thank you for inspiring me, Katie!

Yes... it's time to go play outside!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)